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Nerdfighting in Bangladesh

2008-04-08 · letter vlog · John · 3:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: Advocacy & fundraising · tags: fundraising ask, community lore, heavy topic

John argues that guilt-based charity ads make the poor a 'them', while poverty is an us problem ('there is no them, only facets of us'), and asks Nerdfighters to help fund Nerdfighter Sean's work in Bangladesh as an experiment in community.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Vote result on more videos; intro; the Puff; book-themed Question Tuesday next Monday

  • ★★★ John reports the vote: by 4,336 to 11, Nerdfighters decided the brothers should make more videos more often. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ John greets the Puff, which he has not seen in a while. (playful) — 00:00:00 · the Puff
  • ★★★ Since this video will have few jokes, John says he will make up for it with a 'joketacular' Question Tuesday next Monday (14 April 2008). — 00:00:00 · Question Tuesday
  • ★★ John asks Nerdfighters to leave lots of questions in comments, especially about a book or books, for a themed Question Tuesday. — 00:00:00 · Nerdfighteria, Question Tuesday

00:00:48 — World Suck: charity fundraising ads use guilt and make the poor a 'them'; it is an us problem; Sean introduced

  • ★★ John is a big believer in giving to charities like Save the Children and Oxfam, which do amazing work with impressive efficiency. — 00:00:48 · Save the Children
  • ★★★ John objects to how such charities raise money: black-and-white photos of unsmiling children with sad music. — 00:00:48
  • ★★★ Guilt works and is probably the best way for charities to raise money, but the ads make viewers think the poor are fundamentally different, a 'them'. (hedged) — 00:01:22 · othering
  • ★★★ John argues global poverty is not a 'them' problem but an 'us' problem: we should help, but it is us we need to help. — 00:01:22 · othering

00:01:51 — Sean's Uncultured project in Bangladesh and his Xbox 360 money; school costs

  • ★★★ A Nerdfighter named Shawn left graduate school at Notre Dame for Bangladesh; his project Uncultured films poverty there and uses his Xbox 360 savings to help kids go to school. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ John says it costs less than five dollars for a child in Bangladesh to go to school for six months, yet children drop out every day for lack of money. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ John admires that Shawn realised poverty is about us and simply went; John admits he could not do that himself. — 00:01:51

00:02:20 — 'There is no them': what Nerdfighters taught John; proposal to help Sean as an experiment in community

  • ★★★ John says Nerdfighters taught him over 15 months that there is no them, only facets of us: every imagined 'them' turned out to be part of us. — 00:02:20 · there is no them, Nerdfighteria, othering

    “There is no them. There are only facets of us.”

  • ★★ The children Shawn works with may not know in-your-pants jokes, speak English or have fast internet, but they are still part of us. — 00:02:20 · in your pants

  • ★★★ Because Shawn's Xbox 360 money will only go so far, John proposes that Nerdfighters help Shawn help people in Bangladesh, via the link in the sidebar. — 00:02:20 · Nerdfighteria, link in the sidebar
  • ★★★ John calls this not charity but an experiment in community, and says donors should still give to Save the Children and Oxfam; it does not get them off the hook. — 00:02:20 · Save the Children

00:03:03 — Ask to supplement Sean's fund while still giving to real charity; seeing where the money goes; sign-off

  • ★★ Shawn will make videos on his YouTube channel so donors can see exactly where the money goes, whom it helps and how; John made this video a response to one of Shawn's. — 00:03:03 · YouTube

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Bangladesh · othering · poverty porn · Shawn Ahmed · there is no them

Also: Organizations: Oxfam · Save the Children · Uncultured Project · University of Notre Dame · YouTube

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: in your pants · the Puff · world suck

Places: Kentucky

Products: Xbox 360

Memes: Lolcat

Also centred on Bangladesh: Three Things · A Video about Videos · PEEPS for Bangladesh

Also centred on poverty porn: How to be a Microfinancier Part 2

Also centred on Shawn Ahmed: Three Things · A Video about Videos · You Are Awesome

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